What is the RMAT?
Led by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the RMAT is an inter-agency team comprised of representatives from each Secretariat, called Climate Change Coordinators, who are supported by agency staff, stakeholders, and subject matter experts. The RMAT is tasked with monitoring and tracking the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan (SHMCAP) implementation process, making recommendations to and supporting agencies on plan updates, and facilitating coordination across State government and with stakeholders, including cities, towns, and businesses. Learn more in the SHMCAP’s Chapter 8: Plan Implementation and Maintenance.
State Agency Resilience Highlights
The RMAT is advancing climate resilience actions in many ways. Here are a few highlights:
- Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) Resilience Master Plan
- Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) MA Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) and Vulnerability Assessment
- Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Climate Hazard Adaptation and Resilience Master Plan (CHARM)
- Department of Public Health (DPH) Climate Enhanced Community Profiles
- Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) Interim protocol on climate adaptation and resilience
Highlighted Initiatives
MA Climate Change Assessment
The MA Climate Change Assessment is a statewide analysis detailing how Massachusetts’ people, environments, and infrastructure may be affected by climate change and its related hazards through the end of the century. The MA Climate Change Risk Assessment will directly inform the first five-year update to the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan (SHMCAP) that will be released in Fall 2023. It will utilize updated statewide climate change projections to identify climate impacts across the Commonwealth’s regions and sectors, and to develop data-driven climate risk consequence and urgency ratings. The project will be informed by Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program (MVP) plans and assessments, FEMA approved Local Hazard Mitigation Plans, and guided by a stakeholder working group, an equity advisory group, and series of regional conversations and workshops.
More information can be found on the project website here.
Climate Resilience Design Standards Tool
The “Climate Resilience Design Standards and Guidelines Tool" developed guidance for state-funded projects to enhance how the Commonwealth assesses climate resilience as part of its capital planning process. The beta Climate Resilience Design Standards Tool will provide state-funded projects:
- a preliminary climate change exposure and risk rating;
- recommended climate resilience design standards for projects with physical assets;
- guidelines with best practices to support implementation.
The project deliverables are grounded in scientific methodology using available climate science data for Massachusetts, and will be enhanced over time to incorporate new science, additional or changing climate hazards, and on-going stakeholder feedback.
The Climate Resilience Design Standards Tool is available on ResilientMA.org along with additional project information and documentation.
Contact Information
For more information on the Resilient MA Action Team (RMAT) or with any questions or ideas, please email: rmat@mass.gov